Jessica Garber

Jessica’s dissertation research focuses on the mindsets and attitudes encouraging young Cambodians’ increased participation in higher education in Phnom Penh. Her project considers how young people’s access to higher education has impacted their understanding of what it means to be a morally good, educated, middle-class Cambodian, particularly in gendered terms. She also considers how young people are potentially reshaping gender ideologies to fit their aspirations for employment and family life as they take their next steps into adulthood.

Before arriving at Boston University, Jessica worked with a non-profit providing scholarships to children in both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia. She holds an EdM in Anthropology & Education from Teachers College, Columbia University where her thesis research centered on the structure and curricular offerings of private schools in Phnom Penh as well as parents’ concerns about these schools. She also holds an MA in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Colorado – Denver as well as a BA in Anthropology from Franklin & Marshall College. For her undergraduate thesis, she focused on the psychic, sensitive, and medium community in South Central Pennsylvania.